Available and Heated Air from Warm Spaces and/or Exhaust of Air Conditioners from Residences or Buildings for Use with Heating Water of Nearby Swimming Pool

ABSTRACT

A system for supplementing the heater for a swimming pool comprises the use of a heat exchanger for the heat generated by an air conditioning evaporator or condenser. The system can also recover and use the otherwise lost heat of an attic and redirect the same to augment the heating of the water of a swimming pool.

Many residences in the United States have swimming pools and the homes are provided with attics. The pools are desirably maintained with warm water and, often, these pools are heated by a dedicated pool heater powered by oil or propane/natural gas. Apartment buildings, towers, hotels, country clubs, etc. have pools, too, all desirably maintained with warm water at or about 85 degrees F. To maintain the pool water in a clean and heated condition, pool water is pumped through a filter, then to a pool water heater then back to the pool. As said, the heater is often powered by oil heat, propane or natural gas; these fuels are costly. The desirability of maintaining a pool with heated water for comfortable swimming is offset by the desirability of minimizing the amount of resources used to heat the water as the oil or gas can be expensive.

Many homes with pools also have attic space above the living quarters. These attics become very warm and even quite hot in the summertime (swimming pool season in much of the US) as the heat of the home rises and the attics have only a vent or small fan for exhausting the heated air. The heated air builds up in the attic.

In addition, homes and buildings, hotels, towers, country clubs, etc. provided with swimming pools also often have air conditioners for cooling the internal living spaces. Some of those air conditioning systems have evaporators/condensers also in the attic. Often, however, the condensers and evaporators are located outside the home, adjacent the same, on one side of the house. And, as stated, for maximum enjoyment and usage of the pool, the temperature of the water is generally kept at a certain temperature, warm enough to allow easy and fun swimming yet not too warm as to eliminate the refreshing feel of outdoor swimming. A pool heater is generally provided, driven by oil, propane, natural gas or even electricity. These can be expensive to run but do, indeed, increase the use and enjoyment of the swimming pool. Generally, the pool heater is located adjacent the pool, often also on the outside and on a side of the home. In some homes, the swimming pool heater is located near and even adjacent the air conditioning systems, namely, the evaporators/condensers. Yet, until the present invention, the components do not communicate nor cooperate with one another. There has been, prior to the present invention, no simple system for using the heated air of the attic of a home and/or the heated and exhausted air of an air conditioning system (condenser and evaporator) to heat the water for a swimming pool. A simple heat transfer or exchange system is contemplated which will benefit the heating of a pool by use of otherwise lost energy in the form of heat from the attic and/or air conditioning system.

In the Summertime especially in the Northeast of the US, conventional homes with attics become rather warm as the hot air builds up in the attic and is not always exhausted. Some roof exhausts or small fans/vents serve to transfer that heated air outside to the atmosphere. That tends to make one's home easier to keep at a comfortable temperature. These homes often are cooled by use of air conditioning comprising an air handler and an evaporater/condensor.

Relatedly, air conditioners are used in the summertime to cool the inside of the rooms in homes. The air conditioners have condensers and evaporators which are critical to the “air conditioning” and send cooler air to the air handlers for distribution about the home. The exhaust for the condensers and evaporators are usually part of the rooftop units or they can be on the ground, but generally, they are outside of the home where the heated air is distributed to the outside ambient air or to the environment. The heated air from both a heated attic and the evaporator of an air conditioner are lost to the environment. There seems a real economic and environmental need, especially if the same can be harnessed for another purpose, to repurpose the lost heated air from an attic or the condersor/evaporator of an air conditioner for a building. According to the present invention, the use of that heated air to increase and/or maintain the temperature of an adjacent swimming pool seems like an economical and highly efficient concept.

Thus, the attic and the air conditioning evaporator/condensers for a home or residence are capable of providing large amounts of heated air which is generally just exhausted to the outside, all for the maintenance of the comfort of the interior of the home. There, generally, the heated air is lost and considered of no great utility.

However, many homes in the summertime often are equipped with swimming pools and those pools, to be maintained in a hygienic manner, utilize pumped water which direct the water to and through filtering mechanisms and chlorinators/hygienic devices. Often, swimming pools of the US are provided with pool heaters, too. These pool heaters are used to maintain the temperature of the water at a desired temperature because sun-light alone will not maintain the same. These swimming pool heaters are consumers of oil, gas or propane or electric current and create heat to pass the same to the water flowing from the pool, through a heat exchanger in the pool heater, with the now-heated water going back to the pool. There is a definite tendency by consumers to not use their heaters as they consume gas or propane and/or electricity as the costs are high. Yet, of course, the consumer desires to heat the pool so that the water temperature is comfortable, not too cold, to maximize enjoyment of the pool.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention for a device to be integrated with and interfaced between the exhaust of heated air from one's attic and/or the exhaust of heated air from an air conditioner's condenser or evaporator with a nearby swimming pool heater so that the heat otherwise lost to the environment is used to help heat the pool water. The pool water could be pumped to a transfer or heat exchange station where the cold water of the pool will pass in one direction and the exhaust and heated air (from the attic or condensor of the air conditioner) passed in the opposite direction so that a heat transfer will occur. The heated air of the attic and/or the condenser of the air conditioner will be transferred to the swimming pool water before it is then pumped back to the pool. In this manner, otherwise heated air, readily available near to the pool heater, is lost energy. The present invention seems to be a highly efficient use of lost energy by the consumer. The heat from either the attic and/or the condenser/evaporator of the air conditioning system can be effectively redeployed and not lost but, rather, is useful as a heater or supplemental heater for the water of the swimming pool system. A simple heat exchanger, heated air entering and water desirably heated and returned to the pool can be used to advantage. In one embodiment of the invention, the air conditioning evaporator can be integrated with a heat exchanger so that water coming from the pool is passed into the evaporator, which will help to cool the conderson and make it more efficient for air conditioning and the now-heated pool water is then returned to the pool (subject, of course, to a thermostatic control) to provide for heated pool water, without the need for a full use of the pool heater. Rather, the pool heater is aided by the heating of the water by having the same pass into the condenser for a heat exchange.

FIG. 1 is a simple schematic diagram showing how a conventional home residence with an air conditioning system and a heated swimming pool have operated in the past and also shows the inventive system coupled into a residential home with attic exhaust air and/or air conditioning evaporator/condenser heat being fed into a heat exchanger for use in supplementing the water heater for a swimming pool. For ease of illustration and understanding, the schematic does not show electric supply, nor even all pipes used in the system but, rather, only those thought necessary for a clear understanding of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As seen in the Figure, a simple, conventional, two-story residential home is provided with windows. The home H shown is a standard two story Colonial-style home with an attic, A, used for storage. Generally, the roof of the attic A is not itself insulated from the outside but the floor F of the attic A (the ceiling of the living space for the home H) is provided with insulation to retain heat in the home (in the wintertime) and to keep the cooler air of an air conditioned home within the living space of the home in the summertime). As is conventional, the attic can have a side vent V for air circulation and even a roof mounted (through the attic A) fan which is often thermostatically controlled to exhaust heated air (in the summertime) to the atmosphere if the attic A gets too hot, i.e., if the temperature exceeds a predetermined maximum. The Exhaust Fan or Attic Exhaust (AEX) is shown as is heated vapors shown being transferred to the outside.

Often, in these traditional two story homes, an air conditioning system is at least partially located in the attic, usually, the air handler or distributor. Generally, such is suspended from the underside of the roof of the attic A and it receives “conditioned” or cooler air from the outside by an evaporator or condenser usually located outside the home and on the side of a home, usually at ground level. Schematically, the air conditioner's evaporator/condenser units are shown in FIG. 1 as elements E/C. These units cool and condition the air by a heat exchanger mechanism and the use of Freon gas which is compressed and allowed to expand in a well known manner to provide cooled air to the air handlers/distributors A/H which distribute the cooler air to the rooms of the home. The warmer air near the ceilings of the home is often collected through vents and returned to the air handler which is, again, located in the attic A. The air evaporators or condenser unit(s) E/C generally remove heat from the withdrawn air by use of the expansion and contraction of Freon gas in a closed loop system and exhaust the removed heat of the air of the home to the atmosphere. This, too, is shown by the vapors extending upwardly from the evaporators/condenser units E/C. A single pipe is shown connecting the cooled air from the evaporator/condenser unit(s) E/C to the air handler AH in the attic A whereupon the now-cooled air is distributed to the rooms of the home via pipes and through ductwork to create a pleasant environment on a warm outside air day or night.

The home H also includes one or more return registers (RR) which are the intake of the air for directing the same back to the evaporator/condensers E/C, for further air conditioning. Normally, the return registers RR are in or near the ceiling of the home. The standard controls, electricity, thermostats, registers, units, distributors, piping, etc. is well known by those of skill in the field of air conditioning of conventional homes and residences.

The depicted home H also includes a swimming pool SP in its back or side yard. Steps are shown in the shallow end of the swimming pool. As is conventional, water is directed by piping into the pool after the same has been pumped out of the pool to and through a pool filtration system SWF. The SWF is a conventional filter and treatment system, e.g., with diatomaceious earth and a chlorinator or salt system chlorine filtering and hygiene maintaining device. After filtering and treating, the water is pumped (not a batch pump but, rather, a constant flow pump is generally used for x hours a day or continually) back to the pool. The water flows into the Swimming Pool via pipes or eyeball inlets I and is drawn out of the pool by the pump (adjacent the Swimming Pool Filter system (but not shown) via one or more drains or pool skimmers SK. Of course, for ease of illustration and understanding, one eyeball inlet I and one skimmer SK are shown for swimming pool SP, but many can be used.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a Pool Heater PH is provided in the pool system for raising the temperature of the water, generally after filtration and chlorinating. Here the Pool Heater PH is shown with water coming into it from the swimming pool and water flowing from it, after the temperature of the water is raised (a thermostat turns the heater on and off, depending on the set temperature and the actual temperature of the water) it flows back to the pool SP, through the eyeball inlet(s) I. The Pool Heater PH is driven by a source of electricity (not shown) and the heat is transferred within the Pool Heater PH to the water via a heat transfer set of internal pipes of the Pool Heater PH. The Pool Heater is generally connected, for providing the heat, to a source of natural gas, propane tanks, or even solar or electric power.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, heat is lost in the summertime from these residences because of the heat of the attic being exhausted to the atmosphere through the Air Exhaust fan or venting mechanism and heat is also lost or unused from the evaporator/condensers E/C of the air conditioning system. Yet, the Pool Heater PH needs to generate heat to warm the water of the pool.

The present invention contemplates the use of the otherwise lost heat of the attic A and/or that of the evaporator/condenser E/C units to supplement or provide heat to the water of the pool. Of course, the use of the heat from the attic and/or air conditioning system is controlled by a thermostat so that the pool water is not allowed to get too hot and uncomfortable. As can be appreciated, a system of water-carrying pipes can pass through the air exhausting flow of the evaporator/condensers units E/C and also through the Attic Exhaust fan area, wherein the pipes are either filled with water, air or another heat absorbtive material and then that fluid, now heated with otherwise lost heat form those systems, can be placed into the system for heat transfer to the water from the pool preferably on its way to the Pool Heater. The heat transfer from the Attic A, the Attic Exhaust Fan AEX and from the evaporator/condenser units E/C can be accomplished by a simple heat transfer HT mechanism either before the Pool Heater PH or after the Pool Heater. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the Heat Transfer is located downstream or after the Pool Heater PH. The heat transfer mechanism can be piping of countercurrent flow of fluids and/or air and/or water and/or other heat absorbing material or fluid which gains and “takes” heat from the sources of high heat (e.g., the Air Exhaust Fans and the Attic A and the Evaporator/Condenser Units E/C) and then transfers, efficiently, that heat to the flow of water of the swimming pool SP as the same is returned to the pool via piping and by the action of a pump. As seen in FIG. 1, pipes or other conduits are provided to take the heater air or heat component of the air from the attic A, the Attic Exhaust Fans AEX, the Evaporator/Condenser Units (E/C) to direct the same to and into a Heat Transfer mechanism. There the heat absorbed from those units is transferred to the water from the pool to raise its temperature and return the pool water back to the pool.

Thus, in the heat of the summer, when heat builds up in the Attic A of a residential home, H, the heat can be used to augment the swimming pool heater (or replace it entirely) to heat the swimming pool water. The heat otherwise lost from the attic A, the Attic Exhaust Fans AEX and/or the evaporator/condenser units E/C is preserved and directed to the Heat Transfer mechanism and then, through conduction or convection, the heat transferred directly or indirectly to the pool water, thereby raising the temperature of the same, as desired.

Suitable switches, valves, controls, electronics, etc. may need to be connected for convenience but all are clearly within the understanding of one of skill in the area of temperature controlling of fluid, water, and air.

In an alternate embodiment, an air conditioning component, the condenser or evaporator is provided with a water inlet (from the swimming pool) which then passes through the condenser/evaporator, to absorb the heat from the air withdrawn from the home and the byproduct of the air conditioning system, to heat the pool water. Thus, after the pool water is heated by the condenser or evaporator, the water is returned and pumped back into the pool. Accordingly in this embodiment the evaporator or condenser component of the air conditioning system is integrated into the heat transfer mechanism for use in raising or maintaining the heat of the water of a swimming pool. As some air conditioners are actually water cooled (considered more efficient than air cooling) the integration of the present invention is considered within the knowledge and ability of one of ordinary skill in the art. The present invention is considered a likely “win-win” as the air conditioning system and evaporator will be more efficiently operated with a water cooled system and the swimming pool water is being heated, at least in part, by the otherwise lost heat to the atmosphere from the evaporators of the air conditioning system. Thus, the pool heater is operating far more efficiently and likely significantly less fuel will be needed to raise or maintain the temperature of the water. The consumer, i.e., the home owner, will experience a lower fuel bill both from conserving fuel for the pool water heater and a lower electric bill from the more efficient air conditioning as it is being cooled by a water cooled system, not air cooling. 

I claim:
 1. A system for heating the water of a swimming pool by use of pumped water from and back to the swimming pool comprising a heat exchanger of the heat from any one of an attic; an attic air exhaust and an evaporator or condenser of an air conditioning system.
 2. A swimming pool water heating system comprising: a) a pump for drawing water from and returning water to the swimming pool; b) an internal space air conditioning system comprising an evaporator or condenser unit; c) a heat exchanger between the exhaust of said evaporator or condenser unit and the water from said swimming pool.
 3. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein said heat exchanger is integrated into said air conditioning system.
 4. A system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said heat exchanger is a component of said evaporator or condenser.
 5. A system as claimed in claim 4 wherein said heat exchanger is a component of a water cooling tower for said air conditioning system.
 6. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein a thermostat is provided to control the temperature of the water provided to said swimming pool. 